thee to make manifest to us thy true and righteous judgment, so that
this man, who is accused and is about to undergo the ordeal, is guilty
of that crime, by act or consent, because of the instigation of the
devil or through his own cupidity or pride, and expects to escape or to
circumvent the ordeal by some trick, his guilt may be made known upon
him by thy power, and may be shown upon his hand, in order that he
himself may be brought to confession and repentance, and that thy holy
and righteous judgment may be made manifest to all people.
(8) [Another exorcism of the water.]
(9) Then the priest takes off the garments of each of the men and
clothes them in the clean robes of an exorcist or deacon, makes them
each kiss the gospel and cross of Christ, and sprinkles them with holy
water. Then he makes them each take a drink of the holy water, saying to
each one: I give you this water as a trial of your guilt or innocence.
Then the wood is placed under the caldron and lighted, and when the
water begins to get hot the priest says these prayers:
(10) In the name of the holy Trinity. God the just Judge, etc. [Similar
to §6 above.]
(11) Let us pray. God, who didst free St. Susanna from the false
accusation; God, who didst rescue St. Thecla from the arena; God, who
didst free St. Daniel from the lions' den, and the three children from
the fiery furnace: free now the innocent, and make known the guilty.
(12) The man who is to undergo the ordeal shall say the Lord's prayer
and make the sign of the cross; then the caldron shall be taken from the
fire, and the judge shall suspend a stone in the water at the prescribed
depth in the regular manner, and the man shall take the stone out of the
water in the name of the Lord. Then his hand shall be immediately bound
up and sealed with the seal of the judge, and shall remain wrapped up
for three days, when it shall be unbound and examined by suitable
persons.
235. Ordeal by Hot Iron.
Pp. 615 f.
(1) First the priest says the prescribed mass; then he has the fire
lighted, and blesses the water and sprinkles it over the fire, over the
spectators, and over the place where the ordeal is to be held; then he
says this prayer:
(2) O Lord, our God, the omnipotent Father, the unfailing Light, hear
us, for thou art the maker of all lights. Bless, O God, the fire which
we have sanctified and blessed in thy name, thou who hast illumined the
whole world, that we may receive from it the light of thy glory. As thou
didst illumine Moses with the fire, so illumine our hearts and minds
that we may win eternal life.
(3) Then he shall say the litany....
(4) The prayers....
(5) Then the priest approaches the fire and blesses the pieces of iron,
saying: O God, the just judge, who art the author of peace and judgest
with equity, we humbly beseech thee so to bless this iron, which is to
be used for the trial of this case, that if this man is innocent of the
charge he may take the iron in his hand, _or_ walk upon it, without
receiving harm or injury; and if he is guilty this may be made manifest
upon him by thy righteous power; that iniquity may not prevail over
justice, nor falsehood over truth.
(6) O Lord, the holy Father, we beseech thee by the invocation of thy
most holy name, by the advent of thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and by
the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to bless these pieces of
iron to the manifestation of thy righteous judgment, that they may be so
sanctified and dedicated that thy truth may be made known to thy
faithful subjects in this trial. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
etc.
(7) Omnipotent God, we humbly beseech thee that in the trial which we
are about to make, iniquity may not prevail over justice, nor falsehood
over truth. And if anyone shall attempt to circumvent this trial by
witchcraft or dealing with herbs, may it be prevented by thy power.
(8) May the blessing of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit descend
upon these pieces of iron, that the judgment of God may be manifest in
them.
(9) Then this psalm shall be said on behalf of the accused: Hear my
prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry....
(10) Prayer: Hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayer of thy
suppliants, and pardon those that confess their sins, and give us pardon
and peace.
(11) Then those who are to be tried shall be adjured as follows: I
adjure you (name), by omnipotent God who made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that in them is, by Jesus Christ his Son, who was born and
suffered for us, by the Holy Spirit, by the holy Mary, the Mother of
God, and by all the holy angels, apostles, martyrs, confessors, and
virgins, that you do not yield to the persuasions of the devil and
presume to take the iron in your hand, if you are guilty of the crime of
which you are accused, or if you know the guilty person. If you are
guilty and are rash enough to take the test, may you be put to confusion
and condemned, by the virtue of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the sign
of his holy cross. But if you are innocent of the crime, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ and by the sign of his holy cross, may you have
faith to take this iron in your hand; and may God, the just Judge, keep
you from harm, even as he saved the three children from the fiery
furnace and freed Susanna from the false accusation; may you go through
the ordeal safe and secure, and may the power of our Lord be made
manifest in you this day.
(12) Then he who is about to be tried shall say: In this ordeal which I
am about to undergo, I put my trust rather in the power of God the
omnipotent Father to show his justice and truth in this trial, than in
the power of the devil or of witchcraft to circumvent the justice and
the truth of God.
(13) Then the man who is accused takes the sacrament and carries the
iron to the designated place. After that the deacon shall bind up his
hand and place the seal upon it. And until the hand is unwrapped
[_i.e._, at the end of three days] the man should put salt and holy
water in all his food and drink.
236. Ordeal by Cold Water.
Pp. 618 f.
(1) When men are to be put to the ordeal [of cold water], the process
should be as follows: They shall be brought to the church, and the
priest shall say the mass and the men shall take part in it. Before they
take the communion, the priest shall adjure them thus:
(2) I adjure you, men, by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, by your
Christianity, by the only begotten Son of God, by the holy Trinity, by
the holy gospel, and by the relics that are kept in this church, that
you do not presume to take communion, or to come to the altar if you
have committed this crime, or have consented to it, or if you know the
guilty person.
(3) If they all keep silence and no one confesses, the priest shall go
to the altar and give them the communion. Then he shall say to them: May
this body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be today a trial of your
guilt or innocence.
(4) After the mass, the priest shall take water that has been blessed
and shall go to the place of the ordeal. When they come there the priest
shall give the men this water to drink, and shall say: May this water be
a trial of your guilt or innocence. Then he shall adjure the water in
which they are to be cast, and then shall take off the clothes of the
men and make each one of them kiss the holy gospel and the cross of
Christ. Then he shall sprinkle each of them with holy water and shall
cast them one by one into the water. The priest and those who are to be
tried should have fasted before the trial.
(5) Adjuration of the man who is to undergo the ordeal: I adjure you
(name), by the invocation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the ordeal of
cold water. I adjure you by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, by the
inseparable Trinity, by our Lord Jesus Christ, by all the angels and
archangels, by the dreadful day of judgment, by the four evangelists,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, by the twelve apostles, by the twelve
prophets, by all the saints of God, by the principalities and powers, by
the dominions and virtues, by the thrones of the cherubim and seraphim,
by the three children, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego, by the 144,000
who suffered for the name of Christ, by the baptism in which the priest
gave you the new birth, that if you have seen or known anything about
this theft, if you have had anything to do with it, if you have received
it in your house, or consented to it, or if your heart is hardened, your
heart may be melted, and the water may not receive you; may witchcraft
not prevail, but may the truth be made manifest. We beseech thee, our
Lord Jesus Christ, give us a sign, so that if this man is guilty, the
water may not receive him; do this to thine honor and glory, by the
invocation of thy name, that all may know that thou art our Lord, who
livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and
ever. Amen.
(6) Prayer over the water. We humbly beseech thee, O Lord Jesus Christ,
to give us a sign, that if this man is guilty in any way of the crime of
which he is accused the water may not receive him, but he may float, and
not sink in the water. Do this, O Lord Jesus Christ, to thine honor and
glory by the invocation of thy holy name, that all may know that thou
art the true God, and that there is no other God beside thee, who livest
and reignest with God the Father in unity with the Holy Spirit forever
and ever. Amen.
(7) Omnipotent God has established this ordeal, and it is righteous.
Pope Eugene has ordained that it should be used throughout the whole
world by all bishops, abbots, counts, and all Christians, for it is
proved by many to be just and righteous. Therefore it has been decreed
by them that no one may clear himself by placing his hand on the altar
or on the relics, or by swearing on the bodies of the saints.
237. Ordeal by Cold Water.
P. 689.
The following paragraph is taken from another ordeal by cold water which
is otherwise similar to the one just given; it illustrates more minutely
the way in which the accused was immersed.
(6) On the staff which is placed between the arms of the man shall be
written: Behold the cross of God, let his adversaries flee. The lion of
the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to make a
righteous judgment + [sign of the cross]. May St. John the Baptist bless
this water. On it shall also be written the gospel: In the beginning;
and the benediction: Lord God.{108}
{108} An illustration, from an old manuscript of one of the collections
of forms for ordeal, shows how the person was bound in this case. The
illustration represents the ordeal as taking place from a boat. The
man's knees are shown drawn up to his chin; a staff is under the bend of
the knees and his arms are passed under the staff. His hands are bound
at the wrist with a rope which is held by other persons in the boat. He
was probably drawn out by the rope if he sank in the water.
238. Ordeal by the Barley Bread.
P. 691.
(1) First the priest prepares himself with the deacon, and then blesses
the water; and the deacon prepares the barley flour which he mixes with
the holy water and bakes, both of them saying during the process the
seven penitential psalms, the litany, and the following prayers [certain
prayers follow].
(2) Prayer over the bread. O God, who didst reveal the wood of the true
cross on Mount Calvary, where Christ was betrayed by Judas (for God gave
over his Son to be betrayed by Judas), reveal to us by the judgment of
the barley bread whatever we ask in thy name.
(3) After the bread is baked the priest shall take it and place it
behind the altar and shall say the mass for that day. After the mass he
shall mark the bread with the sign of the cross, and shall place an iron
rod in the centre of the cross, with a hook at the top to suspend it by.
The priest shall keep this bread by him and use it until it spoils. When
anyone is accused of theft, or fornication, or homicide, and is brought
before the priest, the priest shall take the bread and give it to two
Christian men, and they shall hang it by the hook between them, and the
priest shall say the following adjuration. And if the man is guilty, the
bread will revolve around; if he is not guilty, the bread will not move
at all.
(4) Adjuration over the barley bread. I adjure thee, barley bread, by
God the omnipotent Father, etc., that if this man or woman has
committed, consented to, or had any part in this crime, thou shalt turn
around in a circle; if he is not guilty, thou shalt not move at all. I
adjure thee, barley bread, by the Mother of God, by the prophet Hosea,
and the prophet Jonah, who prophesied unto Nineveh, by Lazarus, whom God
raised from the dead, by the blind man, to whom the Lord restored his
sight, by all the monks and canons and all laymen, by all women, and by
all the inhabitants of heaven and earth, forever and ever, amen.
239. Ordeal by Bread and Cheese.
P. 630 f.
(1) Lord God omnipotent, holy, holy, holy. Holy Father, the invisible
and eternal God, maker of all things; holy God, ruler of mortals and
immortals, who dost see and know all things, who triest the hearts and
the reins; O God, I beseech thee, hear the words of my prayer, that this
bread and cheese may not pass the jaws and the throat of him who has
committed the theft.
(2) Before the mass is begun and before the cheese is cut with the
knife, while it is still whole, these words should be written round
about it: "His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent
dealing shall come down upon his own pate" [Ps. 7:16].
(3) Then bread and cheese to the weight of nine denarii shall be given
to each man. The bread shall be of barley and unleavened; the cheese
shall be cheese made in the month of May of the milk of ewes. While the
mass is being said, those who are accused of the theft shall be in front
of the altar, and one or more persons shall be appointed to watch them
that they do not contrive any trick. When the communion is reached the
priest shall first take the communion of the body of Christ, and then
shall bless the bread and cheese, which has been carefully weighed out
as above, and shall immediately give it to the men. The priest and the
inspectors shall watch them carefully and see that they all swallow it.
After they have swallowed it, the corners of the mouth of each shall be
pressed to see that none of the bread and cheese has been kept in the
mouth. Then the rest of the mass shall be said.
240-250. Documents on the Peace of God, the Truce of God, and the Peace
of the Land.
One of the worst features of the feudal age was the prevalence of
private warfare. This was due to the warlike character of the feudal
institutions, to the jealous insistence of the feudal nobles on their
right to fight out their own quarrels without appeal to law, and to the
weakness of the king in the feudal state. Continuous private war not
only meant violence, oppression, and outrage for the weaker members of
society; it also hindered or prevented any advance in civilization for
the whole society. The first steps to overcome this condition were taken
by the church, which was usually to be found in that age on the side of
peace and order. The earliest form was the peace of God, proclaimed by
provincial synods. Several of these appeared at the end of the tenth
century. These forbade all violence and oppression under ecclesiastical
penalty, on the ground that they were contrary to the spirit of
Christianity. The peace of God did not attain any lasting success, for
the turbulent nobles could not be made to give up fighting entirely.
Then the church attempted to mitigate at least these evils, by means of
the truce of God. In the truce of God, violence was forbidden on certain
days and during certain periods. In origin the truce of God was
proclaimed by the clergy of a certain diocese or archdiocese for the
people of their district, but later it was sometimes adopted by the
emperor or king for the whole land. The truce was to last from vespers
or sunset on Wednesday to sunrise on the following Monday of every week,
and also for certain whole periods. It will be seen from the documents
that these days and periods had a religious significance, which is
further evidence that the church regarded the keeping of the peace as a
religious rather than a political duty. The means of enforcing the truce
were ecclesiastical penalties, penance, anathema, excommunication, etc.
The peace of the land has a different origin and character. In the
empire of Karl the Great, the right to enforce the keeping of the peace
belonged to the emperor, and in theory this had never been given up by
the later kings and emperors. It was on this right that the emperors
based their authority to proclaim the peace of the land. In appearance
the great peaces of Frederick I and Frederick II were imperial edicts,
but in fact they depended very largely for their authority upon the
acceptance and agreement of the nobles (see nos. 245, 246). In some
cases the peace of the land was proclaimed for a province (see no. 246),
in others it was for the whole empire. The peace was usually proclaimed
for a certain length of time. In some cases the form of the truce of God
was preserved in the peace of the land, as in no. 246. The documents on
the peace of the land belong in a way under section III, but it was
thought better to bring them together here, because they interrupt the
general historical movement of the quarrel, and because they form a
subject by themselves.
240. Peace of God, Proclaimed in the Synod of Charroux, 989.
Huberti, Gottesfrieden und Landfrieden, I, p. 35.
Following the example of my predecessors, I, Gunbald, archbishop of
Bordeaux, called together the bishops of my diocese in a synod at
Charroux, ... and we, assembled there in the name of God, made the
following decrees:
1. Anathema against those who break into churches. If anyone breaks into
or robs a church, he shall be anathema unless he makes satisfaction.
2. Anathema against those who rob the poor. If anyone robs a peasant or
any other poor person of a sheep, ox, ass, cow, goat, or pig, he shall
be anathema unless he makes satisfaction.
3. Anathema against those who injure clergymen. If anyone attacks,
seizes, or beats a priest, deacon, or any other clergyman, who is not
bearing arms (shield, sword, coat of mail, or helmet), but is going
along peacefully or staying in the house, the sacrilegious person shall
be excommunicated and cut off from the church, unless he makes
satisfaction, or unless the bishop discovers that the clergyman brought
it upon himself by his own fault.
241. Peace of God, Proclaimed by Guy of Anjou, Bishop of Puy, 990.
Huberti, Gottesfrieden, I, pp. 123 f.
In the name of the divine, supreme, and undivided Trinity. Guy of Anjou,
by the grace of God bishop [of Puy], greeting and peace to all who
desire the mercy of God. Be it known to all the faithful subjects of
God, that because of the wickedness that daily increases among the
people, we have called together certain bishops [names], and many other
bishops, princes, and nobles. And since we know that only the
peace-loving shall see the Lord, we urge all men, in the name of the
Lord, to be sons of peace.
1. From this hour forth, no man in the bishoprics over which these
bishops rule, and in these counties, shall break into a church, ...
except that the bishop may enter a church to recover the taxes that
are due him from it.{109}
2. No man in the counties or bishoprics shall seize a horse, colt, ox,
cow, ass, or the burdens which it carries, or a sheep, goat, or pig, or
kill any of them, unless he requires it for a lawful expedition.{110} On
an expedition a man may take what he needs to eat, but shall carry
nothing home with him; and no one shall take material for fortifying or
besieging a castle except from his own lands or subjects.
3. Clergymen shall not bear arms; no one shall injure monks or any
unarmed persons who accompany them; except that the bishop or the
archdeacon may use such means as are necessary to compel them to pay the
taxes which they owe them.
4. No one shall seize a peasant, man or woman, for the purpose of making
him purchase his freedom, unless the peasant has forfeited his freedom.
This is not meant to restrict the rights of a lord over the peasants
living on his own lands or on lands which he claims.
5. From this hour forth no one shall seize ecclesiastical lands, whether
those of a bishop, chapter, or monastery, and no one shall levy any
unjust tax or toll from them; unless he holds them as _precaria_ from
the bishop or the brothers.
6. No one shall seize or rob merchants.
7. No layman shall exercise any authority in the matter of burials or
ecclesiastical offerings; no priest shall take money for baptism, for it
is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
8. If anyone breaks the peace and refuses to keep it, he shall be
excommunicated and anathematized and cut off from the holy mother
church, until he makes satisfaction; if he refuses to make satisfaction,
no priest shall say mass or perform divine services for him, no priest
shall bury him or permit him to be buried in consecrated ground; no
priest shall knowingly give him communion; if any priest knowingly
violates this decree he shall be deposed.
{109} The meaning of this exception is not clear in the original.
Apparently it is put in to preserve the right of the bishop over the
churches and the clergy of his diocese, and to prevent any of the lower
clergy from citing the decree in restraint of episcopal control; so also
the exception in paragraph 3.
{110} This exception is intended to preserve the rights of the emperor
and others on lawful expeditions to take what they need for the journey.
242. Truce of God, made for the Archbishopric of Arles, 1035-41.
M. G. LL. 4to, IV, 1, no. 419.
This is the earliest truce of God extant (except for the doubtful case
of the council of Elne, 1027), and it is preserved only in the form of a
communication recommending it to the clergy of Italy.
In the name of God, the omnipotent Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Reginbald, archbishop of Arles, with Benedict, bishop of Avignon,
Nithard, bishop of Nice, the venerable abbot Odilo [of Cluny], and all
the bishops, abbots, and other clergy of Gaul, to all the archbishops,
bishops, and clergy of Italy, grace and peace from God, the omnipotent
Father, who is, was, and shall be.
1. For the salvation of your souls, we beseech all you who fear God and
believe in him and have been redeemed by his blood, to follow the
footsteps of God, and to keep peace one with another, that you may
obtain eternal peace and quiet with Him.
2. This is the peace or truce of God which we have received from heaven
through the inspiration of God, and we beseech you to accept it and
observe it even as we have done; namely, that all Christians, friends
and enemies, neighbors and strangers, should keep true and lasting peace
one with another from vespers on Wednesday to sunrise on Monday, so that
during these four days and five nights, all persons may have peace, and,
trusting in this peace, may go about their business without fear of
their enemies.
3. All who keep the peace and truce of God shall be absolved of their
sins by God, the omnipotent Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, and the
Holy Spirit, and by St. Mary with the choir of virgins, and St. Michael
with the choir of angels, and St. Peter with all the saints and all the
faithful, now and forever.
4. Those who have promised to observe the truce and have wilfully
violated it, shall be excommunicated by God the omnipotent Father, and
His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, from the communion of all the
saints of God, shall be accursed and despised here and in the future
world, shall be damned with Dathan and Abiram and with Judas who
betrayed his Lord, and shall be overwhelmed in the depths of hell, as
was Pharaoh in the midst of the sea, unless they make such satisfaction
as is described in the following:
5. If anyone has killed another on the days of the truce of God, he
shall be exiled and driven from the land and shall make a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, spending his exile there. If anyone has violated the truce of
God in any other way, he shall suffer the penalty prescribed by the
secular laws and shall do double the penance prescribed by the canons.
6. We believe it is just that we should suffer both secular and
spiritual punishment if we break the promise which we have made to keep
the peace. For we believe that this peace was given to us from heaven by
God; for before God gave it to his people, there was nothing good done
among us. The Lord's Day was not kept, but all kinds of labor were
performed on it.
7. We have vowed and dedicated these four days to God: Thursday, because
it is the day of his ascension; Friday, because it is the day of his
passion; Saturday, because it is the day in which he was in the tomb;
and Sunday, because it is the day of his resurrection; on that day no
labor shall be done and no one shall be in fear of his enemy.
8. By the power given to us by God through the apostles, we bless and
absolve all who keep the peace and truce of God; we excommunicate,
curse, anathematize, and exclude from the holy mother church all who
violate it.
9. If anyone shall punish violators of this decree and of the truce of
God, he shall not be held guilty of a crime, but shall go and come
freely with the blessing of all Christians, as a defender of the cause
of God. But if anything has been stolen on other days, and the owner
finds it on one of the days of the truce, he shall not be restrained
from recovering it, lest thereby an advantage should be given to the
thief.
10. In addition, brothers, we request that you observe the day on which
the peace and truce was established by us, keeping it in the name of the
holy Trinity. Drive all thieves out of your country, and curse and
excommunicate them in the name of all the saints.
11. Offer your tithes and the first fruits of your labors to God, and
bring offerings from your goods to the churches for the souls of the
living and the dead, that God may free you from all evils in this world,
and after this life bring you to the kingdom of heaven, through Him who
lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and
ever. Amen.
243. Truce of God for the Archbishoprics of Besancon and Vienne, _ca._,
1041.
M. G. LL. 4to. IV, 1, no. 421.
1. We command all to keep the truce from sunset on Wednesday to sunrise
on Monday, and from Christmas to the octave of [_i.e._, week after]
Epiphany [Jan. 6], and from Septuagesima Sunday [third Sunday before
Lent] to the octave of Easter [the Sunday after Easter].
2. If anyone violates the truce and refuses to make satisfaction, after
he has been admonished three times, the bishop shall excommunicate him
and shall notify the neighboring bishops of his action by letter. No
bishop shall receive the excommunicated person, but shall confirm the
sentence of excommunication against him in writing. If any bishop
violates this decree he shall be in danger of losing his rank.
3. And since a threefold cord is stronger and harder to break than a
single one, we command bishops mutually to aid one another in
maintaining this peace, having regard only to God and the salvation of
their people, and not to neglect this through love or fear of anyone. If
any bishop is negligent in this regard, he shall be in danger of losing
his rank.
244. Truce for the Bishopric of Terouanne, 1063.
M. G. LL. 4to. IV, 1, no. 422.
Drogo, bishop of Terouanne, and count Baldwin [of Hainault] have
established this peace with the cooperation of the clergy and people of
the land.
Dearest brothers in the Lord, these are the conditions which you must
observe during the time of the peace which is commonly called the truce
of God, and which begins with sunset on Wednesday and lasts until
sunrise on Monday.
1. During those four days and five nights no man or woman shall assault,
wound, or slay another, or attack, seize, or destroy a castle, burg, or
villa, by craft or by violence.
2. If anyone violates this peace and disobeys these commands of ours, he
shall be exiled for thirty years as a penance, and before he leaves the
bishopric he shall make compensation for the injury which he committed.
Otherwise he shall be excommunicated by the Lord God and excluded from
all Christian fellowship.
3. All who associate with him in any way, who give him advice or aid, or
hold converse with him, unless it be to advise him to do penance and to
leave the bishopric, shall be under excommunication until they have made
satisfaction.
4. If any violator of the peace shall fall sick and die before he
completes his penance, no Christian shall visit him or move his body
from the place where it lay, or receive any of his possessions.
5. In addition, brethren, you should observe the peace in regard to
lands and animals and all things that can be possessed. If anyone takes
from another an animal, a coin, or a garment, during the days of the
truce, he shall be excommunicated unless he makes satisfaction. If he
desires to make satisfaction for his crime he shall first restore the
thing which he stole or its value in money, and shall do penance for
seven years within the bishopric. If he should die before he makes
satisfaction and completes his penance, his body shall not be buried or
removed from the place where it lay, unless his family shall make
satisfaction for him to the person whom he injured.
6. During the days of the peace, no one shall make a hostile expedition
on horseback, except when summoned by the count; and all who go with the
count shall take for their support only as much as is necessary for
themselves and their horses.
7. All merchants and other men who pass through your territory from
other lands shall have peace from you.
8. You shall also keep this peace every day of the week from the
beginning of Advent to the octave of Epiphany and from the beginning of
Lent to the octave of Easter, and from the feast of Rogations [the
Monday before Ascension Day] to the octave of Pentecost.
9. We command all priests on feast days and Sundays to pray for all who
keep the peace, and to curse all who violate it or support its
violators.
10. If anyone has been accused of violating the peace and denies the
charge, he shall take the communion and undergo the ordeal of hot iron.
If he is found guilty, he shall do penance within the bishopric for
seven years.
245. Peace of the Land Established by Henry IV, 1103.
M. G. LL. folio, II, p. 60; Doeberl, III, no. 18.
In the year of the incarnation of our Lord 1103, the emperor Henry
established this peace at Mainz, and he and the archbishops and bishops
signed it with their own signatures. The son of the king and the nobles
of the whole kingdom, dukes, margraves, counts, and many others, swore
to observe it. Duke Welf, duke Bertholf, and duke Frederick swore to
keep the peace from that day to four years from the next Pentecost. They
swore to keep peace with churches, clergy, monks, merchants, women, and
Jews. This is the form of the oath which they swore:
No one shall attack the house of another or waste it with fire, or seize
another for ransom, or strike, wound, or slay another. If anyone does
any of these things he shall lose his eyes or his hand, and the one who
defends him shall suffer the same penalty. If the violator flees into a
castle, the castle shall be besieged for three days by those who have
sworn to keep the peace, and if the violator is not given up it shall be
destroyed. If the offender flees from justice out of the country, his
lord shall take away his fief, if he has one, and his relatives shall
take his patrimony. If anyone steals anything worth five solidi or more,
he shall lose his eyes or his hand. If anyone steals anything worth less
than five solidi, he shall be made to restore the theft, and shall lose
his hair and be beaten with rods; if he has committed this smaller theft
three times, he shall lose his eyes or his hand. If thou shalt meet
thine enemy on the road and canst injure him, do so; but if he escapes
to the house or castle of anyone, thou shalt let him remain there
unharmed.
246. Peace of the Land for Elsass, 1085-1103.
M. G. LL. 4to, IV, 1, no. 429; Doeberl, III, no. 22 b.
Be it known to all lovers of peace that the people of Elsass with their
leaders have mutually sworn to maintain perpetual peace on the following
terms:
1. All churches shall have peace always and everywhere. All clergy and
women, merchants, hunters, pilgrims, and farmers while they work in the
fields and on their way to and from their labor, shall have peace.
2. They have sworn to keep the peace especially on certain days and
during certain seasons; namely, from vespers on Wednesday to sunrise on
Monday of every week, on the vigils{111} and feast days of the saints,
on the four times of fast,{112} from Advent to the octave of Epiphany,
and from Septuagesima Sunday to the octave of Pentecost. In these times
no one shall bear arms except those on journey. All public enemies of
the royal majesty shall be excluded from the benefits of this peace.
3. If anyone of those who have sworn to maintain this peace shall commit
any crime against one of the others, on one of these days, such as
robbing, burning, seizing, or committing any other violence on his lands
or in his house, or beating him so as to bring blood, he shall suffer
capital punishment, if he is a freeman, and shall lose his hand, if he
is a serf.
4. If anyone conceals a violator of the peace or aids him to escape, he
shall suffer the penalty of the guilty person.
5. If anyone unjustly accuses one of those who have sworn to keep the
peace of having violated it, or calls out the forces of the peace
against him, through malice or anger, he shall suffer the penalty
described above.
6. If anyone who dwells in the province has been accused of violating
the peace, he shall clear himself inside of seven days by the testimony
of seven of his peers, if he is a freeman or a ministerial; but if he
belongs to a lower rank in the city or country, he shall clear himself
by the ordeal of cold water.
7. If anyone steals anything of the value of a siclum [a coin of unknown
value] or two, he shall lose his hair and his skin; if he commits the
theft a second time, or steals anything worth five sicla or more, he
shall lose his hand; if he commits a theft a third time, he shall be
hanged.
8. Those who are called to attend the expedition of the emperor or one
made to maintain the peace, shall go at their own expense for three
days. If the expedition takes longer than that, they may levy fodder for
their horses and food for themselves, but may take only grass,
vegetables, apples, wood, and the implements of the hunt.
9. Draught horses, vineyards, and crops shall always be under the peace,
except that a traveler may take enough from the public road to feed his
horse.
10. Whatever anyone held by any right of ownership or possession before
the peace was decreed, he shall still hold by the same right.
11. If anyone has withdrawn from this sworn agreement to keep the peace,
or confesses that he swore to it falsely, and wishes still to remain in
the territory, he shall promise with seven sureties that he will keep
the peace. If he refuses to promise or if he in any way opposes the
peace, he shall either be subject to the penalties of this decree, or
shall leave the land.
12. All the authors of the peace should be on their guard to prevent
rash or unwise action in enforcing it.
13. The younger men should be persuaded or even forced to swear to keep
the peace, for they are especially apt to neglect its provisions.
14. Priests should watch diligently that this useful and holy peace be
not disregarded by the members of their congregations, and should
admonish their people every Sunday to keep it, as is decreed by pope
Leo; and the beginning of the peace of God should be announced at
vespers of every Wednesday with the ringing of bells.
{111} The vigil is the day before the saint's day.
{112} Certain days of fast in the four seasons, observed in the first
week of March, the second week of June, the third week of September, and
the fourth week of December.
247. Decree of Frederick I Concerning the Keeping of Peace, 1156.
M. G. LL. folio, II, pp. 101 ff.; Doeberl, IV, no. 32.
Frederick, by the grace of God emperor of the Romans, Augustus, to the
bishops, dukes, counts, margraves, and all others to whom these presents
come, his grace, peace, and love.... We desire that every person shall
have his rights, and we command by our royal authority that peace, so
long desired and so necessary to the whole land, be kept throughout all
parts of our realm. The following sections show how the peace is to be
kept and preserved:
1. If anyone kills a man within the territory covered by this peace, he
shall suffer capital punishment, unless he can prove by judicial combat
that he did it in self-defence. But if it is well known that he did it
with malice and not in self-defence, he shall not be allowed to escape
death, by appealing to the judicial combat, or by any other means. If a
violator of the peace flees from justice, his movable property shall be
confiscated by the judge and his heirs shall succeed to his patrimony,
if they swear that the violator of the peace shall never with their
consent receive anything from it. But if the heirs do not take this
oath, they shall lose the inheritance and the count shall give it to the
royal treasury and receive it back as a fief.
2. If anyone wounds another within the territory covered by the peace,
he shall lose his hand and forfeit his property as above, unless he can
prove by judicial combat that he did it in self-defence. The judge shall
apply the law strictly against him and his property.
3. If anyone seizes another and beats him without drawing blood or pulls
out his hair or beard, he shall pay ten pounds as compensation to the
one whom he injured, and twenty pounds to the judge as fine. If anyone
reviles another without cause, he shall pay ten pounds for the injury
and ten pounds to the judge as a fine. If anyone has to give pledge to a
judge for more than twenty pounds, he shall put his property in pawn
with the judge, and shall redeem it by paying the amount within four
weeks; if he fails to redeem it within that time, his heirs may receive
it by paying twenty pounds to the count within six weeks; otherwise the
count shall give the property over to the royal treasury, and shall
receive it back as a fief from the king, after paying those who have
claims against it for damages.
4. If one of the clergy has been accused of violating the peace and has
been convicted and proscribed, or if he has sheltered a violator of the
peace, and has been convicted of these things before his bishop on
sufficient testimony, he shall pay twenty pounds to the count, and make
satisfaction to the bishop according to the canons. But if the clergyman
refuses to obey, he shall lose his rank and his ecclesiastical benefice,
and shall be placed under the ban of the empire.
5. If a judge has followed a violator of the peace with the "hue and
cry" to the castle of any lord, the lord of the castle shall turn him
over to justice. If the man lives in the castle and is conscious of his
guilt and fears to appear before the judge, the lord of the castle shall
hand over the man's movables to the judge under oath, and shall never
receive the man again in his castle. If the man does not live in the
castle, the lord shall send him out of his castle in security [that is,
the lord is not bound to deliver him to the judge, but shall give him a
chance to escape], and the judge and the people shall continue to pursue
him.
6. If two men contend for the possession of a fief, and one of them
presents as a witness the man who invested him with it, the count shall
accept his testimony, for the giver of the fief ought to be able to
recognize his own gift; and if the man can prove by trustworthy
witnesses that he held the fief legally and not by violence, he shall
hold it without further controversy. If it is proved that he got it by
violence, he shall pay double the fine for violence and shall be
deprived of the fief.
7. If three or more men contend for the possession of the same fief and
each one offers as a witness the man who he asserts invested him with
the fief, the judge who tries the case shall choose two men of good
repute who dwell in the same province, and shall make them tell under
oath which man has held the fief legally and without violence, and that
man shall hold the fief in peace and security without further
controversy, unless some other person can claim it justly from him.
8. If a peasant accuses a knight of violating the peace, the knight
shall swear that he did it not of his own will, but in self-defence, and
shall clear himself with three compurgators.
9. If a knight accuses a peasant of violating the peace, the peasant
shall swear that he did it not of his own will, but in self-defence, and
he shall choose whether he will clear himself by judgment either of
court trial or ordeal, or by the testimony of six witnesses chosen by
the judge.
10. If a knight has been accused by another knight of violating the
peace, and wishes to put it to the trial by judicial combat, he shall
not be allowed to fight his accuser unless he can prove that he and his
ancestors were lawful knights by birth.
11. Immediately after the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, each count shall
choose seven men of good repute, and shall determine with their advice
and according to the character of the season the price at which grain
shall be sold in each province; if any person during that year sells a
measure of grain at a price higher than the one they have fixed, he
shall be considered a violator of the peace, and shall pay thirty pounds
for every measure that he sold above the price.
12. If a peasant bears arms, such as a spear or a sword, the judge of
the district shall either confiscate the arms or fine him twenty solidi
for carrying them.
13. A merchant who is travelling through the country on business may
carry a sword bound to his saddle or on his wagon, but he shall use it
only to defend himself from thieves, and not against innocent persons.
14. No one shall spread nets, snares, or other traps for any animals
except bears, wolves, and boars.
15. No knight shall bear arms to the count's court, unless requested to
do so by the count. Public thieves when convicted shall suffer the
established penalty.
16. If anyone has made illegal use of his office of advocate or any
other benefice, and has been warned by his lord to desist, but has not
done so, he shall be deprived of his advocacy or benefice by regular
judicial procedure. If he attempts to recover his advocacy or benefice
by violence he shall be regarded as a violator of the peace.
17. If anyone steals anything of the value of five solidi or more, he
shall be hanged; if less than five solidi, he shall be beaten with rods
and have his hair cut off with scissors.
18. If the ministerials of any lord are at war with one another, the
count or the judge of the district shall enforce the law against them.
19. If a traveller wishes to feed his horse, he may take with impunity
whatever he can reach by standing on the road and feed it to his horse.
Anyone may take grass or green twigs for his use, if he does it without
unnecessary destruction.
248. Peace of the Land Declared by Frederick I in Italy, 1158.
Ragewin, Gesta, IV, ch. 10; M. G. LL. folio, II, pp. 112 f.; Doeberl,
IV, no. 37 b.
Frederick, by the grace of God emperor of the Romans, Augustus, to all
his subjects. We hereby command all our subjects to keep the peace, as
it is decreed in this edict. The dukes, margraves, counts, and all
vassals and public officials, together with the common people between
the ages of 18 and 70, shall take an oath to keep the peace and to aid
the officials in enforcing it. These oaths shall be renewed at the end
of every five years.
1. If anyone has a grievance against another on any ground, he shall
seek justice from his lawful judge.
2. Fines for the breach of peace shall be as follows: for a city, 100
pounds of gold; for a town, 20 pounds of gold; for dukes, margraves, and
counts, 50 pounds of gold; for the immediate vassals of the emperor and
the greater rear-vassals, 20 pounds of gold; for the other vassals and
all other violators of the peace, 6 pounds of gold, and these shall also
be forced to make good the injury according to the law.
3. Violence and theft shall be punished according to the law; homicide
and bodily injury and all crimes shall also be punished according to
law.
4. If judges and magistrates appointed by the emperor or his
representative neglect to do justice or to punish violations of the
peace, they shall be compelled to make good the damage and to pay the
legal fine for breach of peace, and in addition they shall pay special
fines to the royal treasury: the higher officials, 10 pounds of gold,
and the lower officials, 3 pounds of gold. Those who are too poor to pay
these fines shall be punished with blows, and shall be prohibited from
dwelling within fifty miles of their former homes during a period of
five years.
5. We hereby prohibit all associations and sworn leagues in city or
country, whether between city and city, or between person and person, or
between city and person. All such associations that now exist are hereby
declared void, and every member is liable to a fine of 1 pound of gold.
6. Bishops are commanded to visit all violators of this decree in their
dioceses with ecclesiastical censure, until they make satisfaction.
7. Protectors of malefactors and receivers of stolen goods shall be
punished with the same fine as the criminals.
8. If anyone refuses to take the oath to keep the peace, or disobeys
this decree, his goods shall be confiscated and his house destroyed.
9. We condemn and forbid all illegal exactions, especially against the
church, an abuse which is of long standing. All such exactions levied in
the future shall be repaid in double.
10. Contracts voluntarily made by minors on oath, which do not affect
their own property, shall be valid; but all promises extorted by force
or fear shall be void, especially promises not to complain of wrong or
injury.
11. If anyone sells his allodial lands, he shall not sell the authority
and jurisdiction of the emperor over them; sales made with these
provisions are void.
249. The Perpetual Peace of the Land Proclaimed by Maximilian I, 1495.
(German.)
Altmann und Bernheim, no. 110.
For various reasons the government had found it impossible to secure the
peace of the land. One reason was that there was no effective and
satisfactory machinery for punishing offenders, administering justice,
and settling disputes. Maximilian not only forbade all private warfare,
but also created a supreme court to try all offenders and to make it
unnecessary for a man to take the law into his own hands.
We, Maximilian, etc. (1) From the time of the publication of this peace,
no one, no matter of what rank or position, shall carry on a feud
against another, or make war on him, or rob, seize, attack, or besiege
him, or aid anyone else to do so. And no one shall attack, seize, burn,
or in any other way damage any castle, city, market town, fortress,
village, farmhouse, or group of houses, or in any way aid others to do
such things. No one shall receive those who do such things into his
house, or protect them, or give them to eat or drink. But if anyone has
a ground for complaint against another, he shall summon him before the
court. For the command is now given that all such matters must hereafter
be tried before the supreme court.
(2) We hereby forbid all feuds and private wars throughout the whole
empire.
(3) All, of whatever rank or position, who disobey this command, shall,
in addition to other punishments, be put under the imperial ban, and
anyone may attack their person or their property without thereby
breaking the peace. All their charters and rights shall be revoked, and
their fiefs shall be forfeited to their lord. And so long as the guilty
one lives, the said lord shall not be bound to restore it to him or to
his heirs.
(4) In case this peace is broken and violence is done to anyone, whether
elector, prince, prelate, count, lord, knight, city, or anyone else, no
matter of what rank or position, secular or ecclesiastical, and the
guilty ones are not known, but suspicion rests on anyone, those who were
injured may make complaint against the suspected ones, and summon them,
and compel them to clear themselves by oath of the crimes of which they
are suspected. If any of the suspected ones refuse to clear themselves
in this way, or refuse to come at the appointed time, they shall be
considered guilty of having broken the peace, and they shall be
proceeded against in accordance with the terms of this document. But the
one who summons them shall give them a safe-conduct to come and to
return to their homes. If it is impossible to deliver the summons to
them in person, it shall be posted in a few places which they are known
to frequent. If, contrary to this peace, anyone is attacked or robbed,
all those who are present and see it, or learn of it in any way, shall
take action against the offender with as much earnestness and promptness
as if it concerned them alone.
(5) No one shall in any way aid or protect such peace-breakers, or
permit them to remain in his territory or lands, but he shall seize them
and begin proceedings against them and give aid to anyone who makes
complaint against them....
(6) If such peace-breakers have such protection or are so strong that
the state must interfere and make a campaign against them, or if anyone
who is not a member of the peace breaks the peace or aids those who have
broken it, charges shall be made by the injured, or by the presiding
judge of the supreme court, to us or to our representatives and to the
annual diet, and aid shall be sent at once to those who have been
attacked. If through war or anything else it is impossible to hold the
diet, we give the presiding judge of the supreme court the authority to
call us and the members of the diet together in any place where we, or
our representatives, can meet and take whatever measures are necessary.
But nevertheless the presiding judge and the whole court shall not cease
to prosecute all such peace-breakers with all the legal means possible.
(7) There are many mercenaries in the land who are not in the service of
anyone, or who do not long remain in the service of those who hire them,
or their masters do not control them as they should, but they go riding
about the country seeking to take advantage of people and to rob. We
therefore decree that such men shall no longer be tolerated in the
empire, and wherever they are found they shall be seized and examined
and severely punished for their evil deeds, and all that they have shall
be taken from them, and they shall give security for their good conduct
by oath and bondsmen.
(8) If any clergyman breaks this peace, the bishop who has jurisdiction
over him shall compel him to make good the damage which he has done, and
his property shall be taken for this purpose. If the bishops are
negligent in this matter, we put them as well as the peace-breakers
under the ban, and deprive them of the protection of the empire, and we
will in no way defend them or protect them in their evil-doing. But they
may clear themselves of suspicion in the same way as laymen.
(9) During this peace no one shall make an agreement or treaty with
another which shall in any way conflict with this peace. We hereby annul
all the articles of such agreements or treaties which are contrary to
this peace, but the rest of such agreements or treaties shall remain in
force. This peace is not intended to interfere in any way with existing
treaties. Without the consent of those who have been injured we will not
free from the ban anyone who has through an offence against the peace
been proscribed, unless he clears himself in a legal way.
(10) We command you ... to observe this peace in all points, and to
compel all your officials and subjects to observe it, if you wish to
avoid the punishments of the imperial law and our heavy disfavor.
(11) We hereby annul all grants, privileges, etc., which have been
granted by us or our predecessors, which in any way conflict with this
peace.
(12) This peace is not intended to annul any of the laws of the empire
or commands which have already been issued, but rather to strengthen
them and to command that all men shall hereafter observe them.
250. The Establishment of a Supreme Court to Try Peace-breakers, 1495.
(German.)
Datt, Volumen rerum Germanicarum novum, sive de pace imperii publica,
p. 876.
We, Maximilian, etc., have, for good and sufficient reasons, established
a general peace of the land throughout the Roman empire and Germany, and
have ordered it to be observed. But it cannot be enforced without the
proper support and protection. Therefore at the advice of the electors,
princes, and the general diet held here at Worms, for the common good,
and for the honor of us and of the supreme court of the holy Roman
empire, we have issued the following laws and regulations in regard to
it. We will appoint a presiding judge of this court. He may be either a
layman or a clergyman, a count or a nobleman. And we will elect sixteen
assistant judges [who shall give the decision]. They shall all be
elected at this diet. They shall all be Germans of good character and of
good degree of knowledge and experience, and at least half of them shall
be trained in the law and the other half shall be noblemen of the rank
of knight at least. The decision of the sixteen shall be final. In case
of a tie the presiding judge shall have the deciding vote. Nothing shall
prevent them from giving a just and legal decision. The presiding judge
and the sixteen shall have no other business, but they shall devote
themselves wholly to the work of this court. They shall not be absent
from the sessions of the court without special permission. The sixteen
shall get such permission from the presiding judge, and he from the
sixteen. But never more than four of them shall be absent from the court
at the same time. Neither the presiding judge nor the sixteen shall
leave the city in which the court is in session except for the most
weighty reasons. If the presiding judge is for a long time prevented by
illness or other weighty reason from holding court, he shall, with the
consent of the sixteen, give one of the sixteen, preferably a count or
nobleman, the authority to represent him. And even if four or less of
the sixteen are absent, the others shall have the power to try cases and
render decisions as if they were all present. But in cases in which
electors, princes, or those of princely rank are concerned, the
presiding judge must preside in person. But if he cannot do so, he may,
with the consent of the others, name a person to preside in his
stead.... We will, with the advice of the princes and of the diet which
shall meet that year, fill all vacancies which may occur in this court.
If the presiding judge dies without appointing some one to preside in
his stead, the sixteen shall elect some one to take his place, so that
the court may not be idle until the next diet assembles. They shall
elect a count or nobleman to this office; and he shall fill this office
until the next diet meets, at which time we will appoint a new presiding
judge.
VIII. MONASTICISM
251. The Rule of St. Benedict. About 530.
Edited by E. Woelfflin.
Monasticism arose in Egypt and western Asia, where the climate was such
that those who lived out-of-doors suffered very little from the
inclemency of the weather. The first monks were true hermits, each one
living quite alone. Very little shelter was necessary; a tree, an
overhanging rock, a small cave, would offer quite enough protection
against the weather. But as the movement spread to countries where there
was more rain and the winters were colder their manner of life was
necessarily modified. They began to live together in houses, but at the
same time attempted to preserve as much of the hermit life as possible.
Although under the same roof, the monks avoided life in common. Each one
had his own room or cell, prepared his own food, and was as far as
possible separated from his fellow monks. But the mere fact that they
lived under one roof made certain rules necessary, and they had to have
regulations to protect themselves against impostors. And if they had
rules, there must be some one to enforce them. So in a natural way every
monastery came to have an organization and certain officials. Since each
monastery had its own regulations or rule, there was the widest
divergence among them. By making a rule which was eventually adopted in
all Greek monasteries, Basil the Great (d. 379) brought about uniformity
without introducing any important changes.
Monasticism was introduced into the west toward the middle of the fourth
century and spread rapidly. Here, too, each monastery made its own rule.
Some of these rules achieved a local reputation and were adopted by
several monasteries. But they were all eventually superseded by the rule
of St. Benedict, which by fortunate circumstances came to be regarded in
the west as the only proper monastic rule.
The loose organization of the monasteries had permitted many abuses to
creep in (cf. ch. 1). The rule of St. Benedict was intended to correct
these. Probably the worst of these abuses was the instability of the
monks. This was due to the fact that they were not compelled to take a
vow to remain in the monastery. Neither were their vows regarded as
perpetually binding, or at least there was no means of compelling them
to keep their vows, or of punishing them if they broke them. If any monk
grew tired of the monastic life or found it irksome, he might leave the
monastery and either enter another, or lead a vagabond sort of existence
by wandering from one place to another (cf. ch. 1). In this way he could
escape all the rigors of the rule and free himself from all discipline.
It was not uncommon for monks to leave the monastery and go back to a
life in the world. St. Benedict put an end to these abuses by requiring
each monk to take a vow to remain forever in the same monastery, and by
making all the vows of a monk perpetually binding: "Once a monk always a
monk."
An important change was made in monasticism in the west by introducing
the common life. In consequence of this all traces of the hermit life
disappeared. The monks slept in a common room and ate in a common
refectory. The monk spent all his time in the company of his fellow
monks. Privacy was entirely unknown to him.
The rule of St. Benedict owes its popularity chiefly to the fact that
Gregory I (590-604) was a Benedictine monk and gave the rule his
support. St. Augustine, whom he sent as a missionary to England, was
also a Benedictine, and carried the rule with him. So it was quite
natural that it should have been the rule of all monasteries in England.
St. Boniface, an Englishman, considered it a part of his reform to
introduce the Benedictine rule into all the monasteries of Germany. Its
fame and success soon led to its adoption in all the monasteries of the
west.
The rule is worthy of careful study because for several centuries it
governed the lives of thousands of monks who, by their piety, their
works of charity in caring for the sick and giving shelter to
travellers, their learning, their industry, their practice of
agriculture, architecture, and other industrial and fine arts,
influenced the lives of millions of laymen and advanced them in
civilization. The student should note: (1) The extensive acquaintance of
the monks with the Bible as shown in the large number of quotations from
it and the amount of it which must be read by them in their services;
(2) the character of an ideal abbot; (3) an ideal monk and the good
works and virtues which he was required to practise (cf. chaps. 4, 5,
and 6); (4) the administration of the monastery, which was characterized
by a judicious mixture of democratic and monarchical principles, and a
high degree of flexibility, so many things being left to the judgment of
the abbot; (5) the amount of time devoted to work, reading, and
meditation; and (6) the fact that the majority of monks were laymen and
not priests.
The first edition of the rule was written probably about 530. But it
received some additions and changes were made in it by Benedict himself
before his death, which took place in 543, or soon after. The exact date
of his death is unknown. The rule was the basis for all the reforms in
monasticism for several centuries. The new orders which were founded for
the most part merely increased its ascetic features and made additions
which were calculated to keep the monks up to the high standard of
asceticism set for them.
The great influence of the rule of St. Benedict seemed to justify us in
offering the whole of it. No other document presents so well as it the
ideals of the monkish life. The documents which follow it illustrate
some of the forms and ceremonies spoken of in the rule, the rise of the
military-monkish orders and their extensive privileges, the founding of
one of the great orders of friars, and the opposition to them on the
part of the parish or secular clergy. A few documents are also given
which throw a certain side-light on the history of the orders.
Ch. 1. _The kinds of monks._--There are four kinds of monks. The first
kind is that of the cenobites [that is, those living in common], those
who live in a monastery according to a rule, and under the government of
an abbot. The second is that of the anchorites, or hermits, who have
learned how to conduct the war against the devil by their long service
in the monastery and their association with many brothers, and so, being
well trained, have separated themselves from the troop, in order to wage
single combat, being able with the aid of God to carry on the fight
alone against the sins of the flesh. The third kind (and a most
abominable kind it is) is that of the sarabites, who have not been
tested and proved by obedience to the rule and by the teaching of
experience, as gold is tried in the furnace, and so are soft and pliable
like a base metal; who in assuming the tonsure are false to God, because
they still serve the world in their lives. They do not congregate in the
Master's fold, but dwell apart without a shepherd, by twos and threes,
or even alone. Their law is their own desires, since they call that holy
which they like, and that unlawful which they do not like. The fourth
kind is composed of those who are called _gyrovagi_ (wanderers), who
spend their whole lives wandering about through different regions and
living three or four days at a time in the cells of different monks.
They are always wandering about and never remain long in one place, and
they are governed by their own appetites and desires. They are in every
way worse even than the sarabites. But it is better to pass over in
silence than to mention their manner of life. Let us, therefore, leaving
these aside, proceed, with the aid of God, to the consideration of the
cenobites, the highest type of monks.
Ch. 2. _The qualities necessary for an abbot._--The abbot who is worthy
to rule over a monastery ought always to bear in mind by what name he is
called and to justify by his life his title of superior. For he
represents Christ in the monastery, receiving his name from the saying
of the apostle: "Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father" [Rom. 8:15]. Therefore the abbot should not teach or
command anything contrary to the precepts of the Lord, but his commands
and his teaching should be in accord with divine justice. He should
always bear in mind that both his teaching and the obedience of his
disciples will be inquired into on the dread day of judgment. For the
abbot should know that the shepherd will have to bear the blame if the
Master finds anything wrong with the flock. Only in case the shepherd
has displayed all diligence and care in correcting the fault of a
restive and disobedient flock will he be freed from blame at the
judgment of God, and be able to say to the Lord in the words of the
prophet: "I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have
declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation" [Ps. 40:10]; but "they
despising have scorned me" [Ezek. 20:27]. Then shall the punishment fall
upon the flock who scorned his care and it shall be the punishment of
death. The abbot ought to follow two methods in governing his disciples:
teaching the commandments of the Lord to the apt disciples by his words,
and to the obdurate and the simple by his deeds. And when he teaches his
disciples that certain things are wrong, he should demonstrate it in his
own life by not doing those things, lest when he has preached to others
he himself should be a castaway [1 Cor. 9:27], and lest God should
sometime say to him, a sinner: "What hast thou to do to declare my
statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing
that thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee" [Ps.
50:16, 17], or "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" [Matt.
7:3]. Let there be no respect of persons in the monastery. Let the abbot
not love one more than another, unless it be one who excels in good
works and in obedience. The freeman is not to be preferred to the one
who comes into the monastery out of servitude, unless there be some
other good reason. But if it seems right and fitting to the abbot, let
him show preference to anyone of any rank whatsoever; otherwise let them
keep their own places. For whether slave or free, we are all one in
Christ [Gal. 3:28] and bear the same yoke of servitude to the one Lord,
for there is no respect of persons with God [Rom. 2:11]. For we have
special favor in His sight only in so far as we excel others in all good
works and in humility. Therefore, the abbot should have the same love
toward all and should subject all to the same discipline according to
their respective merits. In his discipline the abbot should follow the
rule of the apostle who says: "Reprove, rebuke, exhort" [2 Tim. 4:2].
That is, he should suit his methods to the occasion, using either
threats or compliments, showing himself either a hard master or a loving
father, according to the needs of the case. Thus he should reprove
harshly the obdurate and the disobedient, but the obedient, the meek,
and the gentle he should exhort to grow in grace. We advise also that he
rebuke and punish those who neglect and scorn his teaching. He should
not disregard the transgressions of sinners, but should strive to root
them out as soon as they appear, remembering the peril of Eli, the
priest of Siloam [1 Sam. chaps. 1-4]. Let him correct the more worthy
and intelligent with words for the first or second time, but the wicked
and hardened and scornful and disobedient he should punish with blows in
the very beginning of their fault, as it is written: "A fool is not
bettered by words" [cf. Prov. 17:10]; and again "Thou shalt beat him
with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell" [Prov. 23:14].
The abbot should always remember his office and his title, and should
realize that as much is intrusted to him, so also much will be required
from him. Let him realize how difficult and arduous a task he has
undertaken, to rule the hearts and care for the morals of many persons,
who require, one encouragements, another threats, and another
persuasion. Let him so adapt his methods to the disposition and
intelligence of each one that he may not only preserve the flock
committed to him entire and free from harm, but may even rejoice in its
increase.
Above all, the abbot should not be too zealous in the acquisition of
earthly, transitory, mortal goods, forgetting and neglecting the care of
the souls committed to his charge, but he should always remember that he
has undertaken the government of souls of whose welfare he must render
account. Let him not be troubled about the poverty of his monastery,
since it is written: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" [Matt.
6:33]; and again, "For there is no want to them that fear him" [Ps.
34:9]. Let him know that those who undertake the care of souls must be
ready to render an account of them. So he must make a reckoning to God
on the day of judgment for all the souls according to the number of the
brothers under his charge, and of his own soul as well. Therefore, while
he keeps in mind the account which he must render of the sheep committed
to him, and guards the interests of others, he is also solicitous for
his own welfare; and while he administers correction to others by his
preaching, he also frees himself from sin.
Ch. 3. _Taking counsel with the brethren._--Whenever important matters
come up in the monastery, the abbot should call together the whole
congregation [that is, all the monks], and tell them what is under
consideration. After hearing the advice of the brothers, he should
reflect upon it and then do what seems best to him. We advise the
calling of the whole congregation, because the Lord often reveals what
is best to one of the younger brothers. But let the brethren give their
advice with all humility, and not defend their opinions too boldly;
rather let them leave it to the decision of the abbot, and all obey him.
But while the disciples ought to obey the master, he on his part ought
to manage all things justly and wisely. Let everyone in the monastery
obey the rule in all things, and let no one depart from it to follow the
desires of his own heart. Let no one of the brethren presume to dispute
the authority of the abbot, either within or without the monastery; if
anyone does so, let him be subjected to the discipline prescribed in the
rule. But the abbot should do all things in the fear of the Lord,
knowing that he must surely render account to God, the righteous judge,
for all his decisions. If matters of minor importance are to be
considered, concerning the welfare of the monastery, let the abbot take
counsel with the older brethren, as it is written: "Do all things with
counsel, and after it is done thou wilt not repent" [Ecclesiasticus
32:24].
Ch. 4. _The instruments of good works._--First, to love the Lord God
with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the strength,
and then his neighbor as himself. Then not to kill, not to commit
adultery, not to steal, not to covet, not to bear false witness, to
honor all men, and not to do to another what he would not have another
do to him. To deny himself that he may follow Christ, to chasten the
body, to renounce luxuries, to love fasting. To feed the poor, to clothe
the naked, to visit the sick, to bury the dead, to offer help in
trouble, to comfort the sorrowing. To separate himself from the things
of the world, to prefer nothing above the love of Christ, not to give
way to anger, not to bear any grudge, not to harbor deceit in the heart,
not to give false peace, not to be wanting in charity. Not to swear,
lest he perjure himself; to speak the truth from the heart. Not to
return evil for evil. Not to injure others, but to suffer injuries
patiently. To love his enemies. Not to return curse for curse, but
rather to bless; to suffer persecution for righteousness' sake. Not to
be proud, nor drunken, nor a glutton, nor given to much sleeping, nor
slothful, nor complaining, nor slanderous. To put his hope in God; when
he sees anything good in himself to ascribe it to God, and when he does
any evil, to ascribe it to himself. To fear the day of judgment, to be
in terror of hell, to yearn with all spiritual longing for eternal life,
and to keep ever before his eyes the thought of approaching death. To
guard his acts in every hour of his life, to remember that God seeth him
in every place, to crush down with the aid of Christ the evil thoughts
arising in his heart and to confess them to his spiritual superior. To
keep his mouth from evil and vain talk, not to love much speaking, not
to speak vain and frivolous words, not to love much and loud laughter.
To listen gladly to holy reading, to pray frequently, to confess daily
in prayers to God his past sins with tears and groaning, and to keep
himself free from those sins afterward. Not to yield to the desire of
the flesh, to hate his own will, to obey the commands of the abbot in
all things, even if the abbot (which God forbid) should himself do
otherwise than he preaches, remembering the word of the Lord: "What they
say, do; but what they do, do ye not." Not to wish to be called holy
before he is so, but rather to strive to be holy that he may be truly so
called; to obey the commandments of God in his daily life, to love
chastity, to hate no one, not to be jealous or envious, not to be fond
of strife, to avoid pride, to reverence his elders and cherish those
younger than himself, to pray for his enemies through the love of
Christ, to agree with his adversary before the going down of the sun,
and never to despair of the mercy of God.
Lo, these are the implements of the spiritual profession. If they have
been constantly employed by us night and day, and are reckoned up and
placed to our credit at the last judgment, we shall receive that reward
which the Lord himself has promised: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him" [1 Cor. 2:9]. But these graces must be
exercised in the cloister of the monastery by strict adherence to the
vows and obedience to the rule.
Ch. 5. _Obedience._--The first grade of humility is obedience without
delay, which is becoming to those who hold nothing dearer than Christ.
So, when one of the monks receives a command from a superior, he should
obey it immediately, as if it came from God himself, being impelled
thereto by the holy service he has professed and by the fear of hell and
the desire of eternal life. Of such the Lord says: "As soon as he heard
of me, he obeyed me" [Ps. 17:44]; and again to the apostles, "He that
heareth you, heareth me" [Luke 10:16]. Such disciples, when they are
commanded, immediately abandon their own business and their own plans,
leaving undone what they were at work upon. With ready hands and willing
feet they hasten to obey the commands of their superior, their act
following on the heels of his command, and both the order and the
fulfilment occurring, as it were, in the same moment of time--such
promptness does the fear of the Lord inspire.
Good disciples who are inspired by the desire for eternal life gladly
take up that narrow way of which the Lord said: "Narrow is the way which
leadeth unto life" [Matt. 7:14]. They have no wish to control their own
lives or to obey their own will and desires, but prefer to be ruled by
an abbot, and to live in a monastery, accepting the guidance and control
of another. Surely such disciples follow the example of the Lord who
said: "I came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me"
[John 6:38]. But this obedience will be acceptable to God and pleasing
to men only if it be not given fearfully, or half-heartedly, or slowly,
or with grumbling and protests. For the obedience which is given to a
superior is given to God, as he himself has said: "Who heareth you,
heareth me" [Luke 10:16]. Disciples ought to obey with glad hearts, "for
the Lord loveth a cheerful giver" [2 Cor. 9:7]. If the disciple obeys
grudgingly and complains even within his own heart, his obedience will
not be accepted by God, who sees his unwilling heart; he will gain no
favor for works done in that spirit, but, unless he does penance and
mends his ways, he will rather receive the punishment of those that
murmur against the Lord's commands.
Ch. 6. _Silence._--Let us do as the prophet says: "I said, I will take
heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep my tongue
with a bridle. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace even from good"
[Ps. 39:1, 2]. This is the meaning of the prophet: if it is right to
keep silence even from good, how much more ought we to refrain from
speaking evil, because of the punishment for sin. Therefore, although it
may be permitted to the tried disciples to indulge in holy and edifying
discourse, even this should be done rarely, as it is written: "In a
multitude of words there wanteth not sin" [Prov. 10:19], and again:
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue" [Prov. 18:21]. For it is
the business of the master to speak and instruct, and that of the
disciples to hearken and be silent. And if the disciple must ask
anything of his superior, let him ask it reverently and humbly, lest he
seem to speak more than is becoming. Filthy and foolish talking and
jesting we condemn utterly, and forbid the disciple ever to open his
mouth to utter such words.
Ch. 7. _Humility._--Brethren, the holy Scripture saith: "And whosoever
shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself
shall be exalted" [Matt. 23:12]. Here we are shown that all exaltation
is of a piece with pride, which the prophet tells us he avoids, saying:
"Lord, my heart is not haughty nor mine eyes lofty, neither do I
exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I
have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of its
mother; my soul is as a weaned child" [Ps. 131:1,2]. Therefore,
brethren, if we wish to attain to the highest measure of humility and to
that exaltation in heaven which is only to be gained by lowliness on
earth, we must raise to heaven by our deeds such a ladder as appeared to
Jacob in his dream, whereon he saw angels ascending and descending. For
the meaning of that figure is that we ascend by humility of heart and
descend by haughtiness. And the ladder is our life here below which God
raises to heaven for the lowly of heart. Our body and soul are the two
sides of the ladder, in which by deeds consistent with our holy calling
we insert steps whereby we may ascend to heaven.
Now the first step of humility is this, to escape destruction by keeping
ever before one's eyes the fear of the Lord, to remember always the
commands of the Lord, for they who scorn him are in danger of hell-fire,
and to think of the eternal life that is prepared for them that fear
him. So a man should keep himself in every hour from the sins of the
heart, of the tongue, of the eyes, of the hands, and of the feet. He
should cast aside his own will and the desires of the flesh; he should
think that God is looking down on him from heaven all the time, and that
his acts are seen by God and reported to him hourly by his angels. For
the prophet shows that the Lord is ever present in the midst of our
thoughts, when he says: "God trieth the hearts and the reins" [Ps. 7:9],
and again, "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men" [Ps. 94:11], and again
he says: "Thou hast known my thoughts from afar" [Ps. 139:2], and "The
thoughts of a man are known to thee" [Ps. 76:11]. So a zealous brother
will strive to keep himself from perverse thoughts by saying to himself:
"Then only shall I be guiltless in his sight, if I have kept me from
mine iniquity" [Ps. 18:23]. And the holy Scriptures teach us in divers
places that we should not do our own will; as where it says: "Turn from
thine own will" [Ecclesiasticus 18:30]; and where we ask in the Lord's
Prayer that his will be done in us; and where it warns us: "There is a
way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death" [Prov. 14:12]; and again, concerning the disobedient: "They are
corrupt and abominable in their desires" [Ps. 14:1]. And we should
always remember that God is aware of our fleshly desires; as the prophet
says, speaking to the Lord: "All my desire is before thee" [Ps. 38:9].
Therefore, we should shun evil desires, for death lieth in the way of
the lusts; as the Scripture shows, saying: "Go not after thy lusts"
[Ecclesiasticus 18:30]. Therefore since the eyes of the Lord are upon
the good and the wicked, and since "the Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God" [Ps. 14:2], and since our deeds are daily reported to him
by the angels whom he assigns to each one of us; then, surely, brethren,
we should be on our guard every hour, lest at any time, as the prophet
says in the Psalms, the Lord should look down upon us as we are falling
into sin, and should spare us for a space, because he is merciful and
desires our conversion, but should say at the last: "These things hast
thou done and I kept silence" [Ps. 50:21].
The second step of humility is this, that a man should not delight in
doing his own will and desires, but should imitate the Lord who said: "I
came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" [John
6:38]. And again the Scripture saith: "Lust hath its punishment, but
hardship winneth a crown."
The third step of humility is this, that a man be subject to his
superior in all obedience for the love of God, imitating the Lord, of
whom the apostle says: "He became obedient unto death" [Phil. 2:8].
The fourth step of humility is this, that a man endure all the hard and
unpleasant things and even undeserved injuries that come in the course
of his service, without wearying or withdrawing his neck from the yoke,
for the Scripture saith: "He that endureth to the end shall be saved"
[Matt. 10:22], and again: "Comfort thy heart and endure the Lord" [Ps.
27:14]. And yet again the Scripture, showing that the faithful should
endure all unpleasant things for the Lord, saith, speaking in the person
of those that suffer: "Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long;
we are counted as sheep for the slaughter" [Ps. 44:22]; and again,
rejoicing in the sure hope of divine reward: "In all things we are more
than conquerors through him that loved us" [Rom. 8:37]; and again in
another place: "For thou, O God, hast proved us; thou hast tried us as
silver is tried; thou broughtest us into the net, thou laidst affliction
upon our loins" [Ps. 66:10 f]; and again to show that we should be
subject to a superior: "Thou hast placed men over our heads" [Ps.
66:12]. Moreover, the Lord bids us suffer injuries patiently, saying:
"Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other
also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat,
let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a
mile, go with him twain" [Matt. 5:39-41]. And with the apostle Paul we
should suffer with false brethren, and endure persecution, and bless
them that curse us.
The fifth step of humility is this, that a man should not hide the evil
thoughts that arise in his heart or the sins which he has committed in
secret, but should humbly confess them to his abbot; as the Scripture
exhorteth us, saying: "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him"
[Ps. 37:5]; and again: "O, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good;
for his mercy endureth forever" [Ps. 106:1]; and yet again the prophet
saith: "I have acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I
not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and
thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin" [Ps. 32:5].
The sixth step of humility is this, that the monk should be contented
with any lowly or hard condition in which he may be placed, and should
always look upon himself as an unworthy laborer, not fitted to do what
is intrusted to him; saying to himself in the words of the prophet: "I
was reduced to nothing and was ignorant; I was as a beast before thee
and I am always with thee" [Ps. 73:22 f].
The seventh step of humility is this, that he should not only say, but
should really believe in his heart that he is the lowest and most
worthless of all men, humbling himself and saying with the prophet: "I
am a worm and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of all people"
[Ps. 22:6]; and "I that was exhalted am humbled and confounded" [Ps.
88:15]; and again: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I
might learn thy statutes" [Ps. 119:71].
The eighth step of humility is this, that the monk should follow in
everything the common rule of the monastery and the examples of his
superiors.
The ninth step of humility is this, that the monk should restrain his
tongue from speaking, and should keep silent even from questioning, as
the Scripture saith: "In a multitude of words there wanteth not sin"
[Prov. 10:19], and "Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth"
[Ps. 140:11].
The tenth step of humility is this, that the monk should be not easily
provoked to laughter, as it is written: "The fool raiseth his voice in
laughter" [Ecclesiasticus 21:23].
The eleventh step of humility is this, that the monk, when he speaks,
should do so slowly and without laughter, softly and gravely, using few
words and reasonable, and that he should not be loud of voice; as it is
written: "A wise man is known for his few words."
The twelfth step of humility is this, that the monk should always be
humble and lowly, not only in his heart, but in his bearing as well.
Wherever he may be, in divine service, in the oratory, in the garden, on
the road, in the fields, whether sitting, walking, or standing, he
should always keep his head bowed and his eyes upon the ground. He
should always be meditating upon his sins and thinking of the dread day
of judgment, saying to himself as did that publican of whom the gospel
speaks: "Lord, I am not worthy, I a sinner, so much as to lift mine eyes
up to heaven" [Luke 18:13]; and again with the prophet: "I am bowed down
and humbled everywhere" [Ps. 119:107].
Now when the monk has ascended all these steps of humility, he will
arrive at that perfect love of God which casteth out all fear [1 John
4:18]. By that love all those commandments which he could not formerly
observe without grievous effort and struggle, he will now obey naturally
and easily, as if by habit; not in the fear of hell, but in the love of
Christ and by his very delight in virtue. And thus the Lord will show
the working of his holy Spirit in this his servant, freed from vices and
sins.
Ch. 8. _Divine worship at night_ [vigils].--During the winter; that is,
from the first of November to Easter, the monks should rise at the
eighth hour of the night; a reasonable arrangement, since by that time
the monks will have rested a little more than half the night and will
have digested their food. Those brothers who failed in the psalms or the
readings shall spend the rest of the time after vigils (before the
beginning of matins) in pious meditation. From Easter to the first of
November matins shall begin immediately after daybreak, allowing the
brothers a little time for attending to the necessities of nature.
Ch. 9. _The psalms to be said at night._{113}--During the winter time,
the order of service shall be as follows: first shall be recited the
verse ["Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O God,"
Ps. 70:1]; then this verse three times: "O Lord, open thou my lips and
my mouth shall show forth thy praise" [Ps. 51:15]; then the third psalm
and the Gloria, the 94th Psalm responsively or in unison, a hymn, and
six psalms responsively. After this the abbot shall give the benediction
with the aforesaid verse, and the brothers shall sit down. Three lessons
from the gospels with three responses shall then be read from the
lecturn by the brothers in turn. The first two responses shall be sung
without the Gloria, but in the third response which follows the last
reading the cantor shall sing the Gloria, the monks rising from their
seats at the beginning of it to show honor and reverence to the holy
Trinity. Passages are to be read from the Old and New Testaments in the
vigils, and also the expositions of these passages left by the accepted
orthodox Catholic fathers. After the three readings and the responses,
six psalms with the Halleluia shall follow, then a reading from the
epistles recited from memory, and the usual verses, the vigils
concluding with the supplication of the litany, "Kyrie eleison."
{113} The numbering of the psalms in the authorized version differs from
their numbering in the Vulgate. We have followed the numberings of the
latter in those passages of the Rule in which the psalms for the
services are given. But in quotations from the psalms we have followed
the translation as well as the numbering of the authorized version,
except occasionally when the translation in the authorized version does
not give the sense required by the context of the Rule. In these cases
we have translated the Latin of the Vulgate. The following table gives
the corresponding numbers in each version:
Authorized Version. Vulgate.
1- 10 1- 10
11-113 10-112
114-115 113
116 114-115
117-146 116-145
147 146-147
148-150 148-150
In the Vulgate there are two psalms having the same number 10.
Ch. 10. _The order of vigils in summer._--From Easter to the first of
November the above order of worship shall be observed, except that the
reading shall be shortened because of the shorter nights; that is, in
place of the three lessons, one lesson from the Old Testament shall be
recited from memory, with the short response. The rest of the service
shall be observed as described above, so that the number of psalms read
shall never be less than twelve, not counting the 3d and the 94th.
Ch. 11. _The order of vigils on Sunday._--On Sunday the brothers shall
rise earlier than on other days. The order of service in the vigils of
Sunday shall be as follows: first, six psalms and the verse are to be
said as described above; then the brothers, sitting down, shall read in
order from their seats four lessons from the gospels, with responses,
and in the fourth response the cantor shall sing the Gloria, at the
beginning of which all shall rise to show reverence. After the lessons
six other psalms shall be said responsively and the verse; then four
more lessons shall be read with the responses as before; then three
canticles chosen from the prophets by the abbot shall be sung with the
Halleluia; then after the verse and the benediction of the abbot, four
other lessons shall be read from the New Testament in the same order as
above, and after the fourth response the abbot shall begin the hymn "We
praise thee, O Lord" (Te Deum laudamus), following it with a lesson from
the Gospel, during which all rise to show reverence and honor to God.
After the reading all shall respond "Amen," and the abbot shall begin
the hymn: "It is a good thing to praise the Lord"; then the abbot shall
give the benediction, and the matins shall be begun. This order of
service is to be observed on all Sundays, winter and summer, unless it
should happen, which God forbid, that the brethren are late in rising,
in which case the readings and responses may be shortened. But care
should be taken that this does not happen, and if it does, he whose
negligence caused the delay should make satisfaction to God for his
fault by doing penance in the oratory.
Ch. 12. _The order of matins on Sunday._--In the matins on the Lord's
day the order of service shall be as follows: first, the 66th Psalm in
unison, then the 50th Psalm with the Halleluia, then the 117th and the
62d Psalms, the _Benedictiones_ [that is, Dan. 3:52-90], and the
_Laudes_ [that is, Pss. 148, 149, 150], a lesson from Revelation recited
from memory, a response, a hymn, the usual verse, and a song from the
Gospel, concluding with the litany, and the benediction.
Ch. 13. _The order of matins on week days._--On week days the order of
service in the matins shall be as follows: first, the 66th Psalm recited
somewhat slowly as on Sunday, in order that all may be in their places
in time to join in the 50th Psalm, which is to be recited responsively;
then two psalms for the day according to this schedule: on Monday, the
5th and the 35th; on Tuesday, the 42d and the 56th; on Wednesday, the
63d and the 64th; on Thursday, the 87th and the 89th; on Friday the 75th
and the 91st; and on Saturday, the 142d and the song from Deuteronomy
[33:1-43], the last being divided by two Glorias. On other days, the
songs from the prophets are to be sung, each on its proper day,
according to the custom of the Roman church. Then shall follow the
lauds, a lesson from the epistles recited from memory, the response, a
hymn, the verse, and a song from the Gospel, concluding with the litany
and the benediction. At the close of matins and vespers every day, the
superior shall recite the Lord's prayer in the hearing of all, because
of the quarrels which are apt to occur among the monks; so that the
brethren, in their hearts uniting in the petition, "Forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us," may cleanse
their hearts from sins of this sort. In other services, the last part of
the prayer, "Deliver us from evil," shall be said responsively by all.
Ch. 14. _The order of vigils on Saints' days._--On Saints' days and on
all feast days, the order of service shall be the same as that for
Sunday as described above, except that the psalms and responses and
readings belonging to the particular day shall be used.
Ch. 15. _The occasions on which the Halleluia shall be said._--From
Easter to Pentecost the Halleluia shall be said with the psalms and
responses. From Pentecost to the beginning of Lent in the vigils of the
night the Halleluia shall be said only with the last six psalms; on
Sundays, except in Lent, the Halleluia shall be said also with the songs
at matins, prime, terce, sext, and nones, but at vespers the songs shall
be said responsively. The responses shall not be said with the Halleluia
except during the season from Easter to Pentecost.
Ch. 16. _The order of divine worship during the day._--The prophet says:
"Seven times a day do I praise thee" [Ps. 119:164]; and we observe this
sacred number in the seven services of the day; that is, matins, prime,
terce, sext, nones, vespers, and completorium; for the hours of the
daytime are plainly intended here, since the same prophet provides for
the nocturnal vigils, when he says in another place: "At midnight I will
rise to give thanks unto thee" [Ps. 119:62]. We should therefore praise
the Creator for his righteous judgments at the aforesaid times: matins,
prime, terce, sext, nones, vespers, and completorium; and at night we
should rise to give thanks unto Him.{114}
{114} There were eight services to be held every day. The night service
was called vigils and was held some time between midnight and early
dawn, perhaps as early as 2 A.M. in summer, and as late as 4 or 5 in
winter. The first service of the day was called matins. It followed
vigils after a short interval. It was supposed to begin about daybreak,
which is also an indefinite expression and not a clearly fixed moment.
The service of prime began with the first period of the day, terce with
the third, sext with the sixth, and nones with the ninth. Vespers, as
its name indicates, began toward evening. Completorium, or compline, was
the last service of the day and took place just before the monks went to
bed.
These designations of time are necessarily very inaccurate and
indefinite. Beginning with sunrise the day was divided into twelve equal
periods which were numbered from one to twelve. Beginning with sunset
the night was divided in the same way. The day periods would, of course,
be much longer in summer than in winter. As their methods of measuring
time were primitive and inaccurate we must not suppose that the services
took place exactly and regularly at the same hour every day.
Ch. 17. _The number of psalms to be said at these times._--We have
already described the order of psalms for the nocturnal vigils and for
matins; let us now turn to the other services. At prime, three psalms
shall be said separately, that is, each with a Gloria, the verse, "Make
haste, O God, to deliver me," and the hymn for the hour being said
before the psalms; then one lesson from the Epistles shall be read, then
the verse, the "Kyrie eleison," and the benediction. At terce, sext, and
nones the same order shall be observed: first the prayer (that is, the
verse, "Make haste, O God," etc.), the hymn for the hour, the three
psalms, the lesson, the verse, the "Kyrie eleison," and the benediction.
If the congregation is large, the psalms shall be said responsively; if
small, they shall be said in unison. At vespers four psalms shall be
said responsively, then shall follow the lesson, the response, the hymn
for the hour, the Ambrosian hymn, the verse, the song from the Gospel,
the Litany, the Lord's prayer, and the benediction. At completorium,
three psalms shall be said in unison, then the hymn for the hour, the
lesson, the verse, the "Kyrie eleison," the benediction, and the
dismissal.
Ch. 18. _The order in which these psalms shall be said._--All the
services of the daytime shall begin with the verse "Make haste, O God,
to deliver me; make haste to help me, O God," followed by the Gloria and
the hymn for the hour. The order in which the psalms are to be read in
these services is as follows: at prime on Sunday, four sections of the
118th Psalm, and at the other services on Sunday, terce, sext, nones,
three sections each of the same psalm; at prime on Monday, three psalms,
the 1st, 2d, and 6th; so on through the week to Sunday again, three
psalms being said at each prime in the order of arrangement to the 19th,
the 9th and the 17th being divided into two readings. In this way vigils
on Sunday will always begin with the 20th psalm. At terce, sext, and
nones on Monday, the nine sections of the 118th psalm which remain shall
be said three at each service, thus reading the whole 118th Psalm on the
two days, Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday the nine psalms from the 119th
to the 127th shall be read three at each of the services of terce, sext,
and nones. This order of psalms, and the regular order of hymns,
lessons, and verses is to be observed throughout the week, and on Sunday
the reading shall begin again with the 118th psalm. At vespers four
psalms are to be read daily, from the 109th to the 147th, leaving out
those that are prescribed for the other services (from the 117th to the
127th, the 133d, and the 142d). As this does not make the required
number of psalms, three for each day, the longer ones shall be divided,
namely, the 138th, the 143d, and the 144th; and the 116th, being very
short, shall be read with the 115th. The rest of the service of vespers,
the lesson, the response, the hymn, the verse, and the song, shall be
observed as already described. At completorium, the same psalms shall be
read each day, namely, the 4th, the 90th, and the 133d. All the rest of
the psalms, not thus arranged for, shall be divided equally among the
seven nocturnal vigils, the longer ones being divided, making twelve
readings for each night. If this particular order of the psalms is not
satisfactory, it may be changed; but in any case, the whole psalter with
its full number of 150 psalms should be completed every week, and should
be begun again from the first at the vigils on Sunday. Monks who read
less than the whole psalter with the customary songs during the course
of the week are assuredly lax in their devotion, since we are told that
the holy fathers were accustomed in their zeal to read in a single day
what we in our indolence can scarcely accomplish in a whole week.
Ch. 19. _The behavior of the monks in the services._--We know of course
that the divine presence is everywhere, and that "the eyes of the Lord
look down everywhere upon the good and the evil," but we should realize
this in its fulness, especially when we take part in divine worship.
Remember the words of the prophet: "Serve the Lord in all fear" [Ps.
2:11], and again "Sing wisely" [Ps. 47:7], and yet again, "In the sight
of the angels I will sing unto thee" [Ps. 138:1]. Let us then consider
how we should behave in the sight of God and his angels, and let us so
comport ourselves in the service of praise that our hearts may be in
harmony with our voices.
Ch. 20. _The reverence to be shown in prayer._--When we have any request
to make of powerful persons, we proffer it humbly and reverently; with
how much greater humility and devotion, then, should we offer our
supplications unto God, the Lord of all. We should realize, too, that we
are not heard for our much speaking, but for the purity and the
contrition of our hearts. So when we pray, our prayer should be simple
and brief, unless we are moved to speak by the inspiration of the
spirit. The prayer offered before the congregation also should be brief,
and all the brothers should rise at the signal of the superior.
Ch. 21. _The deans of the monastery._--In large congregations certain
ones from among the brothers of good standing and holy lives should be
chosen to act as deans and should be set to rule over certain parts
under the direction of the abbot. Only persons to whom the abbot may
safely intrust a share of his burdens should be selected for this office
and they should be chosen not according to rank, but according to their
merits and wisdom. But if any one of the deans shall be found in fault,
being perhaps puffed up by his position, he should be reprimanded for
his fault the second or third time, and then if he does not mend his
ways he should be deposed and his place given to a worthier brother. The
same treatment should be accorded the _præpositi_.
Ch. 22. _How the monks should sleep._--The monks shall sleep separately
in individual beds, and the abbot shall assign them their beds according
to their conduct. If possible all the monks shall sleep in the same
dormitory, but if their number is too large to admit of this, they are
to be divided into tens or twenties and placed under the control of some
of the older monks. A candle shall be kept burning in the dormitory all
night until daybreak. The monks shall go to bed clothed and girt with
girdles and cords, but shall not have their knives at their sides, lest
in their dreams they injure one of the sleepers. They should be always
in readiness, rising immediately upon the signal and hastening to the
service, but appearing there gravely and modestly. The beds of the
younger brothers should not be placed together, but should be scattered
among those of the older monks. When the brothers arise they should
gently exhort one another to hasten to the service, so that the sleepy
ones may have no excuse for coming late.
Ch. 23. _The excommunication for lighter sins._--If any brother shows
himself stubborn, disobedient, proud, or complaining, or refuses to obey
the rule or to hearken to his elders, let him be admonished in private
once or twice by his elders, as God commands. If he does not mend his
ways let him be reprimanded publicly before all. But, if, knowing the
penalty to which he is liable, he still refuses to conform, let him be
excommunicated [that is, cut off from the society of the other monks],
and if he remains incorrigible let him suffer bodily punishment.
Ch. 24. _The forms of excommunication._--The nature of the
excommunication and discipline should be suited to the extent of the
guilt, which is to be determined by the abbot. If the brother is guilty
of one of the lighter sins, let him be deprived of participation in the
common meal. The one who has been thus deprived shall not lead in the
psalms and responses in the oratory or read the lessons; he shall eat
alone after the common meal; so that, for example, if the brothers eat
at the sixth hour, he shall eat at the ninth, and if the brothers eat at
the ninth hour, he shall eat at vespers. This shall be continued until
he has made suitable satisfaction for his fault.
Ch. 25. _The excommunication for the graver sins._--For graver sins the
brother shall be deprived of participation both in the common meal and
in the divine services. No brother shall speak to him or have anything
to do with him, but he shall labor alone at the work assigned to him as
a penance, meditating on the meaning of that saying of the apostle: "To
deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that
the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ" [1 Cor.
5:5]. And he shall eat alone, receiving his food in such measure and at
such time as the abbot shall determine. No one meeting him shall bless
him, and the food which is given him shall be unblessed.
Ch. 26. _Those who consort with the excommunicated without the order of
the abbot._--If any brother shall presume to speak to one who has been
excommunicated, or shall give a command to him, or have anything
whatever to do with him, except by the order of the abbot, he shall be
placed under the same sort of excommunication.
Ch. 27. _The abbot should be zealous for the correction of those who
have been excommunicated._--The abbot should exercise the greatest care
over erring brothers; as it is written: "They that be whole need not a
physician, but they that are sick" [Matt. 9:12]. So the abbot should use
all the means that a wise physician uses: he should send secret
comforters, wiser and older brothers, who will comfort the erring one,
and urge him humbly to make amends, as the apostle says: "Comfort him,
lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with too much sorrow" [2
Cor. 2:7], and again "Charity shall be confirmed in him" [2 Cor. 2:8].
Let him also be prayed for by all. It should be the greatest care of the
abbot that not one of his flock should perish, using to this end all his
wisdom and ability, for he is set to care for sick souls, not to rule
harshly over well ones. Let him be warned in this matter by the words of
God spoken to the evil shepherds of Israel through the prophet: "Ye did
take that which ye saw to be strong, and that which was weak ye did cast
out" [cf. Ezek. 34:3 f]. Let him rather follow the example of the good
shepherd, who, leaving his ninety and nine, went out into the mountains
and sought the one sheep which had gone astray; who, when he found it,
had compassion on its weakness, and laid it on his own sacred shoulders
and brought it back to the flock.
Ch. 28. _Those who do not mend their ways after frequent
correction._--If any brother has been frequently corrected and
excommunicated, and still does not mend his ways, let the punishment be
increased to the laying on of blows. But if he will not be corrected or
if he attempts to defend his acts, then the abbot shall proceed to
extreme measures as a wise physician will do; that is, when the
poultices and ointments, as it were, of prayer, the medicines of
Scripture, and the violent remedies of excommunication and blows have
all failed, he has recourse to the last means, prayer to God, the
all-powerful, that He should work the salvation of the erring brother.
But if he still cannot be cured, then the abbot shall proceed to the use
of the knife, cutting out that evil member from the congregation; as the
apostle says: "Put away from among yourselves that wicked person" [1
Cor. 5:13]; "If the unbelieving depart, let him depart" [1 Cor. 7:15];
that the whole flock be not contaminated by one diseased sheep.